Back in April, Pergear announced a new lens: Pergear 25mm f/1.7. This is a compact lens that’s not quite pancake, but not far from it either. It’s a little larger than the Fujinon 27mm f/2.8, and a little smaller than the Fujinon 23mm f/2. I appreciate small gear, so I got this diminutive lens specifically to pair with my Fujifilm X-E4. The Pergear 25mm f/1.7 looks really good on the X-E4; it’s an aesthetic match to the retro-styled Fujifilm models, with the right amount of vintage-like charm. The 25mm focal-length is 37.5mm full-frame-equivalent, which is good for everyday walk-around photography.
It is a manual-focus lens, which means there’s no auto-focus capabilities. I learned photography on manual lenses, so I don’t mind them personally; however, if you don’t have much experience manually focusing, it will likely take you a little practice to feel comfortable with it. The focus ring is smooth on this lens. The minimum focus distance is about eight inches, which isn’t bad. The lens has 7 Elements in 5 Groups, and 10 blades. The filter thread size is 37mm. Also, there’s no communication with the camera.
The aperture ring has clicks, and steps in full stops—there are no intermediate apertures, such as f/3.5 or f/5, which is a bit unusual (although a long time ago this wasn’t odd at all). The maximum aperture is a bright f/1.7, but skips f/2 and goes straight for f/2.8. The minimum aperture is f/22; however, due to diffraction, f/22 should probably be avoided. The aperture ring has a good amount of stiffness, and the clicks obvious, meaning that you won’t accidentally change the aperture, and you can mentally keep track of the aperture adjustments without having to take your eye off the EVF.
The Pergear 25mm f/1.7 is a very different lens depending on the aperture. When wide open at f/1.7, center sharpness is sufficient but not impressive, and the corners are soft with some vignetting. It’s also prone to a hazy flare if there is a bright light source in front of you. This can give a cinematic or even atmospheric effect sometimes, and can be used creatively. Things improve notably as you stop down. By f/5.6 the technical flaws that are obvious at f/1.7 are nearly gone, and this lens can hold its own pretty well against many others. In other words, for a clinically clean lens, you will want to be in the f/5.6 to f/8 range, but for more interesting character, you’ll want to increase the aperture. Also, you can get some nice sunstars at f/11 and especially f/16. I feel like there is enough of a difference in outcome at f/1.7, f/2.8-f/4, f/5.6-f/8, and f/11-f/16, that you could almost compartmentalize those apertures for specific situations and desired picture aesthetics.
This lens retails for only $75, which is quite affordable. It seems well built and robust. There’s a lot to like about the Pergear 25mm f/1.7 lens, and it’s easy to overlook the shortcomings because it is so inexpensive. I’m very happy with it, personally, and plan to use it regularly on my Fujifilm X-E4.
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Pergear 25mm f/1.7:
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Example photos, all camera-made JPEGs using the Pergear 25mm f/1.7 lens on my Fujifilm X-E4:
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